Esme in the Limelight

Kate Gordon, Esme in the Limelight, Riveted Press, March 2024, 192 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780645869316

Fifteen year old Esme Rogers loves working at the milk bar. As far as she’s concerned it’s the only thing she’s good at. She’s been struggling at school, and is attending on a part-time basis. Her older sister, Ro, is perfect in her eyes – and in her parents’ eyes too: Esme was just the second baby, who never stood out. Never excelled. Never dreamed big, like Ro did. She was mist and Ro was sun.

Esme can’t believe it when cool Amy says she wants to be friends. Amy is full of positive energy, and her litany of affirmations is exhausting: You are enough! How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you! Be proud of yourself! Dream bigger! Fall in love with yourself! As a reader, you can see how toxic this positivity is, and how it is, in fact, harming Esme’s self-confidence.

This is a hard book to read. Esme’s constant negative inner voice is difficult to hear, and the lack of care shown by her parents is bordering on abuse. But Esme is loved by many, if she can only get past her own inner critics and see them.

There is a beautiful paragraph toward the end of the book that says it all: We choose the people we let into our lives. We choose the voices we listen to, and those we shut out – even if that voice is, occasionally, the mean voice in our heads, telling us we’re worthless. We choose how to tell our own story.

This is a companion novel to Aster’s Good, Right Things, Xavier in the Meantime, and Indigo in the Storm. I have not read any of these books, but it didn’t affect my enjoyment of this book. It explores mental health, body image, sibling rivalry and the courage to be yourself, with sensitivity.

Ages 7-12 years old (as recommended by the publisher, however I would suggest older readers between 10-15, as the character is 15 years old and in Year 9 of high school.)

Reviewed by Gaby Meares

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